Effective Training: Systems,

Strategies,& Practices, 4th Edition

Chapter Two
Aligning Training with Strategy
P. Nick Blanchard and James W. Thacker

2-1
Connection between Strategy, Tactics,
and Objectives

Competitive Tactical Activities

Strategy
• Mission
• Opportunities Unit Unit
Employee
• Threats Objectives Strategies
Objective
• Strengths and Tactics
• Weaknesses

Implementation, Evaluation, and Feedback

2-2
Mission and Competitive Strategy

 Mission – the reason why an organization exists.

A general statement of what we seek to
accomplish.
 Organizational strategy – provides direction to
meet organizational objectives, which support
the mission.
 Training should focus on supporting organizational strategy.
 Organizational strategy supports the competitive strategy.
 Competitive strategy is driven by the mission.

2-3
Competitive Strategy

 Strategic Planning – a process used to

determine how best to pursue a mission while
meeting the demands of the environment.
 Proactive Strategy
 Reactive Strategy
 Strategic Choices – how to pursue the
mission.
 Market Leader
 Cost Leader

2-4
Mission, Strategy, Technology, Structure
Relationship

ENVIRONMENT

EXTERNAL INTERNAL
STRATEGY STRATEGY

TECHNOLOGY STRUCTURE
MISSION

2-5
Environmental Factors

 External Environment –elements outside the

organization that influence.
 Environmental Uncertainty
 Complexity – the number of factors and the degreee to which
they are interrelated.
 Stability – rate of change
 External Competitive Strategy
 Market Leader
 Cost Leader

2-6
Environmental Factors

 Internal Environment
 Internal Strategy
 Core Technology – how products and services are created
 Routine Technology –tasks with predictability
 Non-Routine Technology – unexpected, uneasy to predict

 Structure – labor, policies, procedures and general operating

focus
 Organizational Structure – how a company is organized
 Organizational Design – formality of rules, policies and procedures created
to direct employee behavior

2-7
Organizational Change versus
Organizational Development

 Organizational Development – increasing the

competence and health of an entire organizational
system or sub-system
 Levels of Change and Resistance
 The organizational itself
 Groups and interrelationships
 Individuals – training

2-8
Organizational Change and Resistance

 Resistance and Change Management

 Motivation
 Effort – people must see the connection between the effort
and the organizations mission and goals.
 New Learning – new skills etc.
 New behaviors – compare and contrast current behaviors
with desired behaviors.

 Communication
 Change Management

2-9
Trainers versus Organizational
Development Practioners
 Roles
 Trainers
 Take existing procedures and make people more effective.
 From an organizational prospective they are “Doers.”

 Organizational Development Practioners

 Challenge and confront practices.
 Guided by data.

2-10
Trainers and Organizational Development

 Why Trainers Need OD Competencies

 Force-field Analysis – what is force?
 Economic Factors, KSA’s, etc.
 Influencing factors
 Financial

 Material

 Personnel Availability

 Outsourcing

2-11
Putting it all together

 Organization’s can’t just develop competitive

strategies – the strategies must be followed by
action.
 Strategies are implemented through tactical
action by units, who have developed objectives
to support the organizational strategy, and the
individuals within the units, whose objectives
support the units objectives.

2-12